Startups founded exclusively by women received only a fraction of the capital that went to young companies with all-male founding teams in 2023. 102 million euros went to startups founded by women, which is two percent of the total venture capital invested. Conversely, startups with only men on the founding team received 87 percent of the capital, namely 4.9 billion euros. Another 608 million euros went to startups with mixed-gender founding teams. These are the findings of EY’s startup barometer on female founders, a testing and consulting firm.
A gender gap is also evident when looking at the size of funding rounds. In total, the founding teams of startups that recorded at least one funding round in Germany in 2023 comprised 1,950 people – 237 of whom were women. This meant the share of women among all startups that received new capital in the past year was 12.2 percent. However, for companies that received investments of at least 50 million euros, the share of female founders was only 1.8 percent. The larger the funding round, the smaller the share of women.
The gender investment gap in startup financing likely has multiple causes. A significant role is certainly played by the different sector focus of female and male founders. The share of female founders in four of the five top sectors by funding volume in 2023 is significantly below average. While the share of women in software and analytics is still at ten percent, in the energy sector it is just two percent. In the mobility, media and entertainment, and fintech sectors, it is six percent respectively.
Female founders particularly active in healthcare industry
Female founders are most strongly represented in the healthcare industry, where almost every fourth founding member (24 percent) is female. The share of women is also above average in recruitment (20 percent), adtech (18 percent), and e-commerce (17 percent).
EY partner Thomas Prüver explains:
“Generally, startups based on expertise from the STEM field raise significantly more capital than other young companies. This is particularly evident in technology startups, which are currently raising above-average amounts of capital. And it is precisely here that women are significantly underrepresented in founding teams.”
The complete study is available for download on EY’s website.
